Queen of Thieves
by snowyxdew
Summary: Kyouko Mogami is a world-class thief, known by thieves and the like everywhere. Her organization forces her to partner up with another thief of her caliber to steal a very valuable treasure. Her to-be partner is known as Ren Tsuruga.
1. Chapter 1

**I didn't want to start another story until I finished the other one, but I couldn't help myself~ I just came up with a pretty good idea, so I hope you guys enjoy this one!**

_**Summary: Kyouko Mogami is a world-class thief. She can steal the most-guarded treasures from the wealthiest victims. Her organization has forced her to partner up with a thief of her caliber, so they can steal one of the world's most valuable treasures. Her to-be partner is known as Ren Tsuruga.**_

**Disclaimer: I (of course) don't own Skip Beat! (wish I did though~)**

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Chapter 1

_Click_

The last number was entered and Kyouko Mogami opened the safe. She had a mask on and was wearing black clothes. Inside was a pound of pure gold. She grabbed it and rushed to the windows.

_Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!_

"Waah!" Kyouko turned around to the sounding alarm. "That scared me, I guess I triggered something. Crap!"

Kyouko hurried to the window and reached it just as guards were flying around the corner.

"There's the intruder! Catch him!"

"Sorry to say bye just as we meet, but I'm in a hurry," Kyouko said as she opened the windows. "By the way, guys aren't the only ones who can make great thieves, you know. Adieu." With that, she leapt out the window.

"Hey, this is the third floor!" a guard said as he ran to the window. "She must want to die!"

He looked down, expecting to see blood splattered, but all he saw was grass.

"Hey! Where is she?" another guard asked as he came up beside the first.

"I-I don't know! I don't see her! But, I'm sure she jumped out, didn't she?"

"Where else would she go? It's not like she can fly! Alert the security outside to look for her! She couldn't have gone far."

Guards were running all over the place, searching for the masked woman who broke in. Meanwhile, Kyouko was long gone and on her way back to her organization. She arrived at their headquarters and walked inside. She peered into the eye scanner at the elevator and stepped inside after she was confirmed. She got off when the elevator stopped and dropped the gold into a slot that led to a safe down below.

She pranced into an office and flopped down on the sofa.

"I'm back!" Kyouko looked at the clock. "Hey! It only took me twenty minutes! Considering the time it takes to get there, I think I finished pretty fast!" said Kyouko. She looked up at the man sitting in the corner watching a cheesy soap opera. "You should really get out more…"

He turned around with teary eyes, sniffling.

"Wahh! I didn't mean it that seriously! Don't cry!" Kyouko flew up, flustered.

"James said he's going to leave Carol all by herself to raise her child! The worst part is that he's doing it for her sake, but she doesn't know that! Be-because Carol's dad said he won't give them any money to help raise the child unless James leaves, and t-that James can't tell anyone about their deal! James j-just had to accept it, because he's so stinking poor!"

"Wha-"

"A-and then, Carol got all mad at James and said horrible things to him, but he still didn't say anything! Then-"

"Stop right there!" Kyouko held out her hand. The man stopped talking and just stared at her. Kyouko took a deep breath. "Ok, who are you talking about? James? Carol?"

"From my soap opera, of course! James Road and Carol Lane from The Complicated Life of James!" he cried.

"Mr. Takarada…"

"Yes?" he asked innocently.

"…Nothing. Nevermind, it doesn't matter to you anyway. By the way, you know I finished the job, right?"

Mr. Takarada clicked off his TV and turned around to look at Kyouko. "Oh, that's right. Was there any trouble?"

"Weelll, I was a little careless in the end, but all's well that ends well!" Kyouko laughed.

"As long as you're fine."

"Mr. Takarada," a man walked in, wearing a blue suit.

"What's up, Sawara?" Mr. Takarada asked.

"There's a new mission for Kyouko here," Sawara waved a file and set it onto Mr. Takarada's desk.

"For me again? Can't you give it to someone else like Leo or Saito? I'm beat from all the training I've been doing lately," Kyouko said.

"No, sorry but this is a really big mission, the biggest we've had yet." Sawara said.

Takarada flipped open the file. "Whew, what exactly do we plan to steal from the F.T. Agency? They're just an entertainment company. I doubt they have anything we'd want."

"Keep reading, sir."

Takarada skimmed through to find the desired object. "What! They have the Tear of the North?"

"Tear of the North? What's that?" Kyouko asked. "It sounds familiar."

"It's a priceless jewel. There's four of these in total and if you have all four of them together, it's rumored that something amazing would happen to you. Only people in organizations like ours should know of it. People don't know what'll happen, since they're terribly difficult to find. People used to believe they were only legends or myths." Sawara explained.

"That's right! Didn't Leo try looking for one of those? I think the Tear of the South, but he just completely gave up after two years." Kyouko exclaimed.

"That's right. How in the world did they get one of these? It's definitely something we should obtain." Takarada said. "Who found out about this?"

"Well, that's the thing. The Scales organization was asking for Kyouko to help them get the jewel. They offered to work together to get it away from someone who doesn't know its true value before it's too late. They said we could work out the shares later." He paused. "They're desperate."

"As they should be. If word gets out of how rare and valuable the jewel is, then the whole world would be after them. At least we organizations try to stay out of each others' businesses and stick to the rules." Takarada said. "How did Scales find out about the jewel anyway."

"Apparently, one of their men had been reading a local newspaper that said the heir to the F.T. Agency had gone treasure hunting and found a few jewels. As soon as that man saw the picture of the jewel, he knew it was one of the Tears." Sawara replied.

"Is that so? Kyouko, what do you think? I'm afraid even if you refuse, I'm going to have to force you into this job." Takarada said.

Kyouko smirked. "No problemo, boss! It sounds exciting anyway, and you know I'm ready to take on any challenge."

"I didn't expect anything less from our number-one thief." Takarada smiled. "So, Sawara, what do they want Kyouko to do?"

"They want her to go undercover with one of their thieves first. They haven't been able to locate where exactly the jewel is hidden. The heir to the F.T. Agency took a liking to the Tear and hid it away safely. After Kyouko and her partner locate the jewel, they want you two to steal it in any way you can."

"Sounds easy enough. All I've got to do is find it and steal it, right? Heh, I could do this myself, no need for a partner," Kyouko remarked.

"No, you'll need a partner, because the F.T. Agency is one of the richest companies in the world. They own many buildings, so you're going to have to work hard to find it: it could be in one of the President's private homes or even in one of his public buildings, since security in all of them is extremely tight." Sawara said.

Kyouko looked away. "Whatever. Who's my partner? I hope it's not someone who'll drag me down."

"Not at all. He's as famous as you are, Kyouko. Have you heard of him?" Takarada said, keeping his eyes on the file. He looked up. "Ren Tsuruga."

Takarada and Sawara searched Kyouko's face for a reaction. "…Who?" Kyouko asked.

"You haven't heard of him?" _Thud._

Sawara, Takarada, and Kyouko looked towards the window to find Saito stretched out on the balcony.

"You're back already, Saito? You're getting better, aren't you?" Kyouko chuckled. "Maybe you and I can do a job together sometime."

Saito quickly jumped to his feet. "Kyouko, you really don't know who Ren Tsuruga is?" Saito asked.

"Well, now that you mention it, I think I've heard that name before…" Kyouko pondered.

"He's as well-known as you, Kyouko! You and him are probably at the same level!"

"Really? He's that good?" Kyouko asked.

"Yes!" Saito said. He fell back onto the couch and sighed. "What more do I expect from you, huh? You're the girl who didn't even know who Superman was."

"Hey, I'm sorry for not reading comics and actually doing my job!" Kyouko said.

"Even if you don't read comics, Superman's considered common sense," Saito said as he got up. "Be right back," he said as he waved a box full of silver necklaces in the air. "Gotta put away my prize."

"Yeah, ok, show-off." Takarada said. "Be careful with that, though." Saito left the room and soon came back.

"Where's Leo? Is he here today?" Saito asked.

"No, he doesn't have any jobs today, so he's probably at home sleeping his butt off." Kyouko said.

"Haha, yeah, that's so like him," Saito said. "By the way, why were you guys talking about Ren Tsuruga?"

"Kyouko's going to have a mission with him." Sawara said.

"Really? Why? We don't usually collaborate with other organizations."

"It's a biggie. It has to do with one of the Tears."

"No way! Did someone find one? It's not the South one, is it? Leo would be so mad if he heard someone actually found that one," Saito exclaimed.

"No, it's the North one. The heir to the F.T. Agency found it," Kyouko said.

"Wow, so we're going to use the best combo possible, huh? We're sure going all out!" Saito said. "I can't wait till you guys start working together. It's going to be like the King and Queen of thievery!"

"I don't know. I won't accept his abilities until I see them firsthand." Kyouko crossed her arms.

"Well, that's fine. You'll meet him tomorrow." Takarada was reading through the file again. He shut the file and looked up at them. "Well, it's pretty late now, you should all go home and get plenty of rest, especially you Kyouko. I'll dismiss the rest of the company for the night."

"Ok, let's see if you can meet my standards, Ren Tsuruga," Kyouko said to herself.

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**Ok, that's all for now. R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm on break right now cuz of snow and I love it! It's the most I've ever seen here~ Here's the next chap!**

Disclaimer: I (of course) don't own Skip Beat! (wish I did though~)

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Chapter 2**

The next morning, Takarada waltzed into Kyouko's apartment with a whole marching band behind him. "Rise and shine, Kyouko! You got to start getting ready!"

"Nnngghh… Not right now." Kyouko flipped over and covered her head.

"Ok, then. Ready?" Takarada turned around and faced the marching band. "1, 2, 3, play!"

_Boom boom! Pow pow! Ring ring! Honk honk! Squeak squeak!_

Kyouko jumped up while screaming. "What the? What's going on, Mr. Takarada? I'm going to get yelled at by my landlord again!"

"Well, you weren't waking up no matter how hard I tried, so I had to go to the extremes. You can't sleep in this late when you're about to meet your important partner." Takarada shooed her into the bathroom. "Now hurry and get ready because we have to meet him in ten minutes."

"Wait! What time is it? I usually wake up at five in the morning. Did I sleep too late last night?" Kyouko glanced at the clock in her room. "What! It's only three! Why am I meeting him so early?"

"I guess he's just a really early bird. At least he'll get all the worms he wants, right? Now, hurry up and wear your outfit! I'll give you one minute." Takarada stepped outside and told the marching band to go home. "You don't want to make someone wait long for you, do you?"

"Ugh, hut how cwan I gwet heady in a mwinute?" Kyouko asked as she brushed her teeth.

_One minute, fifteen seconds later._

"I'm ready! Let's go!" Kyouko said as she rushed to Takarada's car.

"You're fifteen seconds late. However, it takes seven minutes to get there, so I guess we'll be fine." Takarada inspected Kyouko as the car started. "Wow, you look normal even though you got ready so fast."

"Well, what do you expect? A thief's got to be quick on her feet," Kyouko laughed. "Anyway, is this your first time meeting Ren Tsuruga?"

"No, I've met him before. He came to represent Fuji, the leader of Scales, at one of our meetings before."

"Oh, you mean the meetings that all the leaders of the organizations have once a year?" Kyouko leaned back in her seat. "I guess that's impressive."

"It is. Fuji was busy, so Ren came instead, and he fit in well with the rest of us. He knew his stuff, too, so we couldn't take advantage of him even if we wanted." Takarada laughed. "And there I was, hoping he'd be some naïve little brat, just to toy with him a little."

"That's not nice, Mr. Takarada. Hm?" Kyouko glanced out the window. "Where are we going? Is their base in the ocean or something?" Kyouko could see that they were traveling on a small road next to the ocean. She stared at the beautiful water. "Hey, Mr. Takarada, can we go swimming? Please! The water looks like it'll be so much fun!" Kyouko turned to Takarada with sparkling, hopeful eyes.

"Hm, you should be able to swim as much as you want soon enough. First, we have to get through the meeting," Takarada replied.

"We've arrived, sir," the driver said as they pulled up to the driveway of a small summer cottage.

There was already another car next to the cottage.

"This is where we're meeting them? Where is this place?" Kyouko looked around the surrounding area. "At least it's quiet."

"This is one of Scales' supply houses, in case one of their employees needs some food or medicine while they're on a mission. Fuji and Ren should already be inside, so let's go." Takarada opened the door and walked right in. Kyouko stayed right behind him.

"You're finally here, Takarada. Long time no see."

"Fuji, nice to see you again, too." Takarada walked in and shook hands with a middle-aged man who had long blond hair.

"You guys sure get along." Kyouko stood in front of Fuji. "Nice to meet you, my name is Kyouko Mogami." She shook hands with him.

"Nice to meet you, too, Kyouko. Takarada and I have known each other for a while. I guess you could say we're friends, but at the same time rivals," Fuji said. "Now, come and meet Ren. He's going to be your partner on the upcoming mission." Fuji waved his hand toward a tall man leaning against the back corner.

The man walked toward Kyouko and smiled. "Nice to meet you, my name is Ren Tsuruga. I've heard a lot about you, Ms. Kyouko Mogami."

Kyouko shook hands with him. "You can just call me Kyouko. I hope you're as good as the rumors say you are, because I'll only accept you then."

"Haha, well, isn't that funny. I was just thinking the same thing about you." Ren leaned in with his gentlemanly smile. "I hope you give it your best, so you can keep up with me."

Kyouko glared at Ren.

"Now, now. Calm down, you two. I'm sure you'll both be satisfied with each other, right Takarada?"

"Oh, Fuji, why'd you have to go and ruin the fun? It's only a little bit of rivalry." Takarada smirked. "Now, Kyouko, change into this." He threw a bag at Kyouko.

"What's it for?" Kyouko peered inside. "Huh? B-but this is- I mean, do I really get to wear this?"

"Yep, here's one for you, too, Ren." Takarada tossed another bag at Ren.

Ren looked inside. "Why do we have to change into this?"

"Just do as you're told. Now, hurry up, time's a-wasting." Takarada pushed both of them into separate rooms and closed the doors.

A few minutes later, they both came out of their rooms, fully changed. Kyouko was smiling and twirling around in a white maid dress with lots of frills. Ren came out wearing a black suit.

"Haha! You look like a bodyguard!" Kyouko doubled over in laughter.

Ren looked over at Kyouko. "Kyouko, you look just like a maid."

"I know, it looks great, right? I've always wanted to try one of these on. They're so frilly and this dress makes me feel like a princess!" Kyouko started skipping around in her dreamland.

"Shouldn't that kind of dress make you feel like a servant instead?" Ren asked with a shining smile.

"No way. You just don't understand the meaning of maid. A maid is a kind princess who does kind things for kind people!" Kyouko clasped her hands together and stared off into her dreams again.

"…" Ren turned around to Takarada and Fuji. "Why are we dressed like this? Are we going somewhere?"

"Yes, Ren, you are. Sorry to say this so suddenly, but you're mission starts today." Fuji pointed out the window of the cottage. "You see that huge mansion on top of that mountain over there? It's a long way away, but you should be able to see it. That's where the President of the F.T. Agency's family lives. Kyouko, we want you to act as the maid in their mansion and see if you can find any clues to the whereabouts of the tear's location. We know there're a lot of other buildings and mansions it could be in, but that one is the most likely so far. Ren, we want you to work as a bodyguard for the heir of the Agency. He's the one who hid it, so if he happens to mention anything about it, let us know."

"…Understood," Ren said.

"Got it." Kyouko stared at the mansion, being brought back into reality. "Are there a lot of people in that mansion?"

"Of course there are, and the security's pretty tight, so you've got to be careful. Don't try doing something if you think it's too risky," Fuji said. "The same goes for you, Ren."

"Don't worry. I'll carry this mission out as best as I can." Ren turned to face Kyouko. "We'll try our best, right, Kyouko?" He smiled a dazzling smile at her.

"That's right!" Kyouko was ready to go.

"It's nice you're all pumped up, but we still have some more stuff to tell you. Kyouko, you're going to be sleeping at their mansion because you're going to be working there around the clock. So are you, Ren. When the heir is finished with his work, he'll go back to the mansion. If you two must meet up, do it as discreetly as possible. Figure out the security before trying anything else. During the weekends, you'll be able to take off work. We want you to report back to us during that time." Takarada looked up. "You got that?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

"You'll also need to change your names; just the last names are fine. If you visit the organizations later, someone should have a name prepared for you. You'll probably have to use those names for a while, so get used to them," Fuji said.

"Now, off you go. You two both need to report to the mansion for orientation which starts in five hours. As long as you both get there, I don't care where you spend your time, so the both of you can leave now," Takarada said. "Best of luck."

"Ok, see you later! Say hi to everyone at the organization for me! I'll be leaving first, Ren!"

"I'll report back in three days, Mr. Fuji." Ren also left.

"Do you think any of the other organizations have picked up on this yet?" asked Takarada after Kyouko and Ren left.

"No, I highly doubt it. Most of the other organizations probably wouldn't be able to recognize the Tear even if they saw it. It was only by chance that the person who found the article had been recently looking for one. Too bad for him that the one who found it was the heir to the F.T. Agency, or else we would've let him go on this mission." Fuji sat down. "How about a game of cards?"

Takarada laughed. Then, he sat down. "You know you can never beat me, but bring it on!"

_Five hours later._

Kyouko and Ren arrived at the mansion.

"Whoa, it's so beautiful!" Kyouko blushed at the sight of it. She could envision fairies and angels twirling around in happiness.

"We have to go in now, Kyouko. You can go in first. I'll hang back for a while."

"Ok, see you in there." Kyouko turned to leave first.

"Oh wait, hold on." Ren shuffled through his pockets and took out two little earpieces. "I got this from Mr. Fuji's secretary at my organization. She told me to give one to you, too." He tossed Kyouko and earpiece. "It responds to pressure, so you just have to tap it lightly to turn it on and off."

"Alright, thanks. I'll leave it on for now, so you should, too. I'm going now!" Kyouko stuffed the earpiece into her ear and tapped it lightly as she skipped up to the huge gates.

"Who are you?"

Kyouko swirled around in confusion. She looked from left to right, up and down but couldn't see anyone. "Where are you?"

"… Over here. Can you _not_ see that little square next to the gates? The thing that obviously looks like a little speaker?"

Kyouko leaned in close to the speaker. "Oh, you're speaking through this, aren't you?" She looked closer and found a little camera above the speakers. "And you can see me, too?"

Ren watched from afar. He could hear everything they were saying and wondered how a thief could manage to break through high-security locks and not be able to locate a simple little speaker.

"Yes. Congratulations on _finally_ figuring it out. Now, who are you?"

Kyouko didn't like the tone of the voice at all, but she held it in for the sake of the mission. She put on a smile. "I'm here for the orientation of the new maids."

"As if I couldn't tell from your outfit. I'm asking what your _name_ is." The speaker sighed.

Kyouko gave it her best to continue smiling. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Kyouko Hatsumi."

"… Ok, you're on the list, so you can go in. Don't get _lost_ now." The gates to the mansion opened.

"Thank you." Kyouko forced the smile to stay on her face until she was out of view from the camera. When she finally walked through the gates, she was ready to burst.

"Stop right there. Don't you dare start yelling."

Kyouko sighed. "Why not? I'm out of view from that camera!" Kyouko whispered.

Ren eyed Kyouko as she walked through the garden. "Are you really the best at your organization? How can you even think about blowing up on the job? I bet you haven't even considered that this mansion might have more than one camera watching your every move!" he snapped.

Kyouko suddenly stopped. She was completely and utterly speechless. She wanted to fight back, but she knew everything Ren was saying was completely reasonable and true. She had been too relaxed and carefree because of the sight of the mansion and her dress. "Ugh. I'm sorry. You're right. I'll be more focused from now on."

Ren was surprised at how quickly she admitted she was wrong. He'd expected her to be ignorant from the way she acted before. "Okay, as long as you understand."

Kyouko smiled and continued to walk towards the mansion. She kept walking and walking and walking and walking. After what seemed like an hour of nothing but walking, she arrived at the mansion. "I'm finally here. That took me forever. Have you come in yet?"

"You were only walking for fifteen minutes. And no, I haven't entered yet. I'll go now." Ren got up from where he was sitting and dusted off his pants.

"Ok, I'll be inside." Kyouko walked up to the doors where a man wearing a butler-like outfit stood.

"Welcome. Please step this way." The man led Kyouko inside.

Ren walked up to the gates and stared directly at the camera on the speaker. "Hello, my name is Ren Satoshi, and I'm here for the bodyguard orientation." Ren flashed a dazzling smile at the camera. He wasn't going to be embarrassed the same way Kyouko was.

"….." The speaker remained silent.

"….. Excuse me?" Ren asked.

"….." The speaker still remained silent.

Ren thought maybe the person was having trouble opening the gate.

"Who are you?" The speaker finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, but did you not hear me before?"

"Oh, did you say something else before? Sorry, I was watching a cartoon. You must've looked pretty dumb talking to yourself like that. Now, who are you?"

Ren could now understand how frustrating this speaker really was. He displayed one of his best smiles. "My name is Ren Satoshi, and I'm here for the bodyguard orientation. Could you please open the gates?"

"Are you that happy to be talking to me? I apologize again, but I only like women. Go on ahead." The gates swung open.

Ren contained his anger as he walked through the gates.

"Pffft! Pwahahahahaha!"

Ren cringed as the laughter suddenly erupted in his ear. "Why are you laughing your head off in the mansion? Calm yourself before someone notices."

"I'm sorry, but I heard the entire conversation. I bet you're boiling mad by now, but don't forget about the mission," Kyouko said teasingly. "You understand how frustrating that speaker can be now, don't you?"

"Yeah. Where are you? Are you sure there's no one around you or any cameras nearby? They could be hearing what you're saying right now."

"Don't worry. I'm not that careless. There's a bunch of other rowdy maids in here, so the cameras won't be able to hear anything I'm saying." Kyouko leaned over to look at someone trying to quiet everyone down. "I think we're about to start something soon, but don't worry because the bodyguards' orientation actually starts after ours."

"Ok, that's good. Don't talk as much when they start it."

"I know." Kyouko had to whisper it because all the other maids had been silenced. The man who had been calming the maids started speaking.

"Now that all of you have gathered, I would like to introduce everyone to the heir of the F.T. Agency, who is also the person most of you will be serving." The man stepped aside as the doors behind him started to open. The heir walked into the room.

Kyouko gasped.

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That's it! It's been a while, but I hope this chapter still goes well with the other one. And I'm sure everyone can probably guess who's about to show up~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wassup~ I'm so glad I have the easiest classes right now! So I have more time to write~ XP**

Disclaimer: I (of course) don't own Skip Beat! (wish I did though~)

**Chapter 3**

Kyouko couldn't believe her eyes. At this moment, right in front of her, was the person she despised. Kyouko couldn't help but glare at him before she came back to her senses. She had to focus on her mission!

"Hey, my name is Sho Fuwa. I'm the to-be CEO of the Fuwa Talent Agency, a.k.a. F.T. Agency. Nice to meet you all." Sho flashed a smile at the maids, which made a few of them scream in delight.

"_He's _the heir to the F.T. Agency?" Kyouko started to feel really exasperated.

Still walking through the garden towards the mansion, Ren wondered what the problem was. "What's wrong? The heir to the Agency is Sho Fuwa, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. I just didn't expect a rich person to look like that, that's all," Kyouko whispered into the earpiece. She looked back up at Sho, talking about how maids are important to every household and whatnot. She knew he wouldn't be able to recognize her anyway, so she decided to relax. She wouldn't let him mess up her mission.

While Kyouko was glaring at him, Sho glanced over at her direction. Kyouko turned away quickly because she could feel her anger rising. After Sho finished talking, he left for a different room. A lot of the girls started chatting excitedly amongst themselves as soon as he left. On the other hand, Kyouko distanced herself from the others.

"Why, thank you."

Kyouko almost looked up before she recognized the voice as Ren's. She guessed that he was in the bodyguard orientation room, which was probably where Sho had gone as well. She pressed gently against her ear so as not to get Ren's voice confused with someone else. He wouldn't be able to talk during the orientation anyway.

"Ok, would everyone please line up? I would like to assign your duties and rooms now. When I finish, a tour will commence with the new bodyguards. After that, you will all be free to find your rooms and have time to unpack," one of the butlers said. He began listing off names, room numbers, and duties. "Krystal Maria, room #15, and you will be serving Mr. Hiroto Fuwa. Kyouko Mogami, room #17, and you will be serving Mr. Sho Fuwa…" The list went on and on.

'Oh, great!' Kyouko couldn't believe her luck. She knew it was bad enough that he was involved in this mission, but now she had to be in direct contact with him. This mission was getting a lot more troublesome by the minute.

~~~~~~~~ XxXxXxX ~~~~~~~~~~

Sho skimmed through the crowd of men waiting to serve their duties as bodyguards. He already knew a lot of the maids were going to get fired. He would make sure to personally take care of the ones who obviously only signed up to annoy him. He also couldn't help but remember the passionate look one of the maids had given him. She had been so shy when she was caught staring, that she looked away. Sho sighed to himself, thinking it should've been a sin to be as good looking as he was.

Sho brought his attention back to the bodyguards. One of the butlers was assigning rooms and duties. As Sho skimmed through the crowd, he couldn't help but notice a few men who stood out. Some of them had the brightest hair, while others had the strangest faces. Out of those men, one man who had neither of those stood out the most. Sho had to admit that the man wasn't a total eyesore and his height wasn't bad either. However, there was no need for Sho to feel threatened because he was the top singer in the industry and the best-looking.

"Hello, my name is Sho Fuwa. I'm the heir to the F.T. Agency. I wish to work well with each and every one of you." He smiled and bowed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to work. I hope everyone enjoys their first day on the job."

Sho left the room, satisfied with his short speech.

~~~~~~~~~ XxXxXxX ~~~~~~~~~~~

Ren had been assigned to Sho Fuwa, just as planned. He was chosen along with another bodyguard. Ren whispered into his ear, "Kyouko, let's not approach each other right now." He was walking through the majestic halls of the mansion with the other bodyguards and maids. He couldn't see Kyouko through the crowd but knew it was safer this way.

He waited for some kind of reply, but got none. "Kyouko?" Ren tried to look above the heads of everyone else, but still wasn't able to distinguish her head from everyone else's.

"Kyouko? Are you there?" Ren wondered if Kyouko had turned off her earpiece or not. If she had, then it wouldn't be much of a problem.

"Who are you talking to, Ren?"

Ren turned to the man who was currently walking next to him. This man was going to be Ren's bodyguard partner, the other man who was designated as a bodyguard for Sho Fuwa. His name was Yukihito Yashiro, He wore glasses and didn't look like the best bodyguard material; however, Ren knew appearances could be deceiving.

"I was just talking to myself." Ren smiled his traditional smile.

"Oh really?"

"Yes. By the way, do you happen to know when this tour will be over?" Ren needed to find Kyouko as soon as possible. He needed to at least know if she was still with the other maids. If she had been discovered, Ren wouldn't be far behind.

"Let's see," Yashiro placed his finger against his chin as he thought about it. "I am almost positive that after this hallway, there's going to be one last room, and then we'll all be able to find our rooms."

"Thank you." Ren was worried about Kyouko, but he was just going to need to have faith in her abilities. Ren had other work he needed to do. He looked straight down the hallway, and looked for cameras through his peripheral vision. He immediately spotted two obvious cameras at the end of the hallway.

There were probably a lot of cameras in the mansion, so it would be his and Kyouko's job to find all of them first. Not only that, but they'd also need to devise a plan to avoid being detected by any of them. They would also need to know if someone manually controlled the way the cameras turned or if they turned in response to movement. Ren figured it would probably be both; the cameras would move on their own when there was nothing suspicious, but if necessary they could probably be manually controlled. Because of everything that needed to be done, Ren couldn't waste time worrying about his capable partner.

One of the butlers led the group into the last room of the tour. It was the dining room. An extravagant dining table and chairs were centered in the room. The room didn't appear to have any cameras, but Ren knew better. He would probably have to search for the camera in this room later.

"That concludes our tour of the mansion. Please try not to forget everything I've told you. You are now free to unpack in your bags in your rooms." The butler motioned towards the doors.

The crowd of maids and bodyguards made their way to the doors and left for their separate rooms. Ren finally spotted Kyouko emerging from the crowd. He let out a sigh of relief and walked up next to Kyouko. "Did you turn off your earpiece?"

Kyouko looked up at Ren before looking back down. "That's right, I did. I forgot to turn it back on. Did you need something?"

"No, but next time we turn our earpieces off, let's make sure to tell each other. Just to be sure that we both know."

"Sure." Kyouko tapped her ear again lightly. "I'll leave it on for now. I'll talk to you later." Kyouko veered away from Ren and followed the other maids to their rooms.

~~~~~~~~~~~XxXxXxXxXxXx~~~~~~~~~~

After dinner, Kyouko was sent to Sho's room to tidy it up before he arrived. Kyouko walked up to the second floor and into Sho's room. She looked around. She remembered the butler who gave the tour saying that there weren't going to be any cameras in anyone's room because of privacy. Kyouko had searched all over her room, so she believed he was telling the truth. She began to tidy up the bed.

She felt around the bed for any possible clues to the Tear's location. She could feel something between the mattresses, but she wasn't sure what it was. She pushed her hand between the two mattresses and felt around. Her fingers found their way to some kind of paper between the mattresses. She pulled it out slowly so as not to tear it.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

Kyouko looked up abruptly.

Sho was standing in the doorway with his face flushed red. He stomped all the way up to Kyouko and snatched away whatever she was holding and hid it behind his back. "Why are you snooping around in my room?"

"I was told to clean your room up a bit." Kyouko tried to peer behind him to see what it was that he had snatched away.

"Didn't any of them tell you to never touch my bed?" Sho's face was still completely red.

"Why wouldn't I clean your bed? It's normal for maids to change bed sheets and covers."

"Well, not my maids! Don't ever come near my bed again!" Sho threw his hands up in fury and accidentally threw the thing he was hiding. "Ah!"

Kyouko grabbed the object in the air before Sho could lay a finger on it. It was some kind of book. Kyouko flipped it over to see what it was about.

"No!" Sho reached for the book and stole it away from her once again, but not before Kyouko saw what was on the cover. He slowly looked up at Kyouko. "Did you see it?"

Kyouko looked up at Sho in amazement. "You actually read that kind of stuff? You really don't look the type."

"I'm sure everyone reads this kind of stuff even if they don't look the type!" Sho was flustered.

Kyouko started laughing, "Well, I certainly don't read stuff like that book!"

"You better not go around telling anybody about this!"

"What? That you read _Captain Underpants_? It's nothing to be really embarrassed about, it's just that it doesn't suit your –pfft- image." Kyouko held in her laughter.

"I'll offer you the position of my secretary if you swear not to utter a single word about it!" Sho knew his cool, mature singer image would get ruined if his fans found out that he actually read stuff like comic books!

Kyouko stopped laughing and thought about it. Maybe it would be helpful in their search for the Tear. "What would I need to do as your secretary?"

"Eh? Well, let's see here." Sho returned to being his cool and collected self as soon as he found a way to keep her mouth shut. "You could help handle my papers, I guess. And you wouldn't have to do your maid duties."

"Alright, deal. I won't tell anybody about your little _secret_ if you promote me to be your personal secretary." Kyouko held out her hand.

Sho just stared. He finally let out a sigh before shaking her hand. Kyouko tightened her grip as hard as she could. Sho looked up in surprise.

Kyouko smiled at him as she released her hand. She knew she shouldn't let her past emotions get the better of her during missions, but a little thing like that wouldn't hurt too much. "Make sure to tell the head butler tomorrow." Kyouko left the room and walked back to her own room.

When she reached her room, she quickly talked into her earpiece. "Ren, did you hear that?"

From his own room, Ren also started talking into his own. "Yeah, I think I got most of it. He reads _Captain Underpants_ so he promised to promote you to a secretary to keep your mouth shut, right?"

"Yeah. I'll need to tell Mr. Takarada later." Kyouko flopped down onto her bed. "Hey, I'm going to turn this thing off and take it out for the night, alright?"

"Got it."

Kyouko took out the earpiece and tapped it. She opened a drawer and placed it in there gently. Tomorrow, she'd start her own little investigation.

**I'm eating a banana right now~  
**

**And I found a **_**Captain Underpants **_**comic book while I was looking for some tape before, so I decided to use that~ I used to love reading it when I was little~**


End file.
